Former leading New Zealand publisher and bookseller, and widely experienced judge of both the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Montana New Zealand Book Awards, talks about what he is currently reading, what impresses him and what doesn't, along with chat about the international English language book scene, and links to sites of interest to booklovers.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Patricia Cornwell wins $51m deal over financial losses

19 February 2013 BBC

Patricia Cornwell says she lost a year of income
because of her financial managers' negligence

US crime writer Patricia Cornwell has
won a $51m (£33m) lawsuit against her former financial managers, after a jury
agreed their negligence cost her millions in losses.

A lawyer for Anchin, Block and Anchin LLP insisted the firm had acted
"professionally and appropriately".It blamed Cornwell's losses on the recent recession and on her supposedly
extravagant spending habits.Cornwell is best known for novels about heroine medical examiner Kay
Scarpetta.In a lawsuit in federal court in Massachusetts, the writer said that in 2009
she discovered her net worth was less than $13m, even though she had made an
eight-figure annual income for the previous four years.'Huge ordeal'Cornwell found out "that Anchin had borrowed on [her] behalf collectively
several million dollars, comprised of mortgages for real property and a loan for
the purchase of a helicopter," she argued in court documents.Cornwell also accused her financial managers of failing to arrange temporary
accommodation for her when renovation on her home took longer than expected.
The lawsuit added that because Cornwell suffered from bipolar disorder - a
condition she says her business managers were aware of - the author's "ability
to write is dependent upon the ability to avoid distractions"."A quiet, uninterrupted environment, free of the distractions of managing her
business and her assets, including her investments, is essential to her ability
to write and to meet her deadlines," it says.Cornwell said that as a result of the disruption she missed a book deadline
for the first time in her career."This was very destabilising. I really lost my ability to focus and
concentrate. I did not know what the book was about anymore," Cornwell said,
according to the Associated Press.In a lawsuit, Cornwell said the missed deadline cost her about $15m - a year
of income - in book advances and commissions that could not be recovered."God bless justice," Cornwell said, upon learning of the verdict. "It's a
huge relief and it's been a huge ordeal."More at BBC